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Design Band-Aids Needed for too-small BATHROOM: Help, ASAP!

14 days ago

My bathroom is too narrow for a vanity, so has a pedestal sink. Storage is basically in medicine cabinet (30 x 36) and a teak storage tower plus over-toilet shelving but cant do much more. Need to REPLACE MEDICINE CABINET AND LIGHT FIXTURE. Any other ideas to maximize space and update this sad bathroom would be greatly appreciated.

Comments (15)

  • 14 days ago

    Is the medicine cabinet set into the wall or surface-mounted?

  • 14 days ago

    It seems to me that you should be able to get rid of the teak cabinet and pedestal sink and in that space put a narrow sink+wall-mounted floating vanity, which would give you some storage yet still have "foot space" underneath so that you could use the sink and also have an uncrowded look. The problem might be intrusion into the door space. How wide is the doorway? Could it be narrowed to allow for a vanity? A designer probably know what is allowed and what would work but those are my initial thoughts (I am not a designer).

  • PRO
    14 days ago
    last modified: 14 days ago

    Waht is the measurement of the pedestal sink? Wayfair has some great vanities for small spaces but I need measurements for sure . I have used this one in a tiny home it is only 10" out from the wall . Then a nice in the wall medicine cabinet sam size as you have , As for lighting I love bath bars LED 4000K great on a tiny bathroom Use towel hooks not bars


  • 14 days ago

    Get another workhorse of a medicine cabinet. Yours looks like it holds a lot.


    Can you move some of your bathroom items to storage in your bedroom near the bathroom?


    @Patricia Colwell Consulting - It looks to me like a Kohler memoirs pedestal.


  • PRO
    14 days ago

    There is this item which is attached to the hinges on your door. Being that your door swings out you may not like this concept but it does conceal quite a bit. Amazon



  • PRO
    14 days ago

    That looks like a great idea Beverly I see a bedroom off this bath so I assume this is the master bath. The medicine cabinet is something you need to remove so you can measure exactly the size of the space it needs to be to sit inside the wall which really would be best .

  • PRO
    13 days ago

    Your door is an outswing door. You should be able to easily pull out the pedestal and put in a vanity. What is the dimension of the pedestal sink? What are the dimensions of the space? Are you renovating the whole bath or just a couple of items? I would find the widest medicine cabinet that will fit there. Someone would need to take the old one out and see if they can expand the pocket. You could also go for a taller model as well.

    How easy is it to access the plumbing under the toilet? You could bring it forward towards the tub and then have a much deeper wall cabinet above it. You can see how this is pulled forward with a ledge behind it. You could then have a full width, tall , deep cabinet.

  • 13 days ago

    I just remodeled my son's bathroom. Yours is cavernous by comparison-- his measured 5 ft X 5 ft. for toilet, sink and shower. I stole 3 ft from the adjacent bedroom and came up with a reasonale plan to fit in a 5X8 space, including going from a 24" wide shower to one where he could actually turn around. .


    Is there a bathtub behind the curtain? If so a stall shower will free up a lot of room.

    That sink is huge for the size of the usable bowl, get one that flips the ratio of how the space is used. You can certainly get a vanity without having it stick out any farther.

    Look for places where you can add another medicine cabimet in a wall cavity.

    Often there is a big empty space over the toilet where you can put a pretty big 6-8" deep cabinet; if you also recess it into the wall you can get another 3-1/2" of depth.

  • PRO
    13 days ago

    I really like the black & white bathroom suggested by @JUDY GRAHAM. An inexpensive way to achieve this look would be by painting the wall tiles in the same white as the white in the floor. then find a black & white wallpaper you like and also do some of the other suggestions.


  • 12 days ago

    Put a cabinet above the toilet that fills the whole wall side to side and up to the ceiling. Great for storing toilet paper, feminine products, cleaning products, and things not used on a regular basis such as extra toiletries. That is how we use ours. I've seen others use them to store folded towels as well.


    For daily use items I would do an inset into the wall "medicine cabinet" which can hold daily use items. I'd look for one that has a mirror on the inside of the door so that when the cabinet is open you can still use it as a mirror with easy access to items without having to open and close multiple times.


    What is the boxed in area at the end of the tub and across from the toilet? Is it just empty space or is it part of another room? I would consider opening this up and use a pull-out cabinet there to store things as well.

  • 12 days ago

    great idea! the inset is the area for the toilet. There IS an adjacent small walkin closet that shares the bathroom wall. Ideally, if I wanted to spend $50K, I would remodel by claiming some or all of the closet and create a proper size bathroom for the master bedroom. Alas, I will likely sell the house within the next two years and have other things that take precedent, reno-wise. Kills me to spend anymore "bandaid" money on this room. Since buying the house we have changed the sink and toilet, and lighting. The sink was a hideous shell shape!


  • 12 days ago

    I’d suggest a shallow cabinet with doors (not open shelves) over the toilet, a new recessed medicine cabinet and a nice paint color for the walls above the tile. And, can you live with using a bath mat that gets draped over the tub when not in use? Then, you can go without a rug. Seeing the full floor tile pattern will make the room look more spacious.

  • 12 days ago

    Thank you all for these wonderful ideas! I really appreciate all of your thoughts and suggestions. BTW, there is a huge jacuzzi tub "behind the curtain", which I know I should replace with a large shower. As I said in my last comment, "There IS an adjacent small walkin closet that shares the bathroom wall. Ideally, if I wanted to spend $50K, I would remodel by claiming some or all of the closet and create a proper size bathroom for the master bedroom. Alas, I will likely sell the house within the next two years and have other things that take precedent, reno-wise - and I hate to spend money on a bandaid knowing that in all likelihood the next owner will gut it. There is a good-sized room behind the bedroom that can only be accessed through the bedroom. Now used as extra "closet" and gym. Slanted ceiling [think attic] and broken-up walls and insets- so cant put in closet system aside from waist height. Conundrum.




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